


Valentine's Hearts

by Eliaintraining



Category: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel - Michael Scott
Genre: F/M, One Shot, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Valentine's Day, or at least not properly resolved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-11 22:40:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29500080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eliaintraining/pseuds/Eliaintraining
Summary: Being out together as friends on Valentine's day proves to be much more difficult than it had any right to be.Contains a lot of Aoife complaining about Valentine, an embarrassed Niten, and both of them being oblivious to each other's feelings.
Relationships: Aoife/Niten | Miyamoto Musashi
Comments: 6
Kudos: 6





	Valentine's Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> The story takes place before the events of the series.

Sappūkei, Niten thought when he took a proper look around, tasteless. The small place where they had decided to spend the evening, was heavily decorated to fit today’s Valentine’s day theme. _Extremely_ heavily. He sighed. Niten didn’t think it a big deal, going out with Aoife on Valentine’s day, it wasn’t like either of them celebrated it. It was a mere coincidence that they were out together on this day: Aoife only got here yesterday, and they wanted to plan out their next adventure as soon as possible as both of them had grown quite restless with their need for action. They had a business here, Niten reminded himself, eyes landing on maps of faraway Shadowrealms placed neatly before him. However, the omnipresent decorations were impossible to escape from and what was worse than them committing a crime against his artistic senses, was that they had planted quite a wrong idea into his mind. He glanced at Aoife sitting across from him. This _wasn’t_ a date, he told himself sternly.  
  
Aoife frowned at tiny paper hearts scattered on their table and blew at them. They rose from the red table-cloth and began to slowly float back like leaves, some of them ending up on the floor instead of on the table. "This holiday became so commercial and pushy, it’s annoying. You can’t find a decent place to talk over a coffee without having _this_ shoved into your face.“ She lifted one of the hearts in disgust for him to see.  
  
Niten shrugged. "Perhaps we would have found one if we truly looked, this is only the third place we tried,“ he reminded her. He looked around once more to inspect all the decorations and suddenly was hit with a wave of uneasiness as another thought came to his mind uninvited. Perhaps Aoife found it inappropriate to be out with him on Valentine’s day. Maybe the reason she was complaining about decorations right now was that the idea of them together like that made her uncomfortable. Niten shifted in his seat, feeling oddly bothered by the idea. He tried to examine her expression, but she was busy glaring at the little heart in her hand. "We can still go find another one if you want,“ he suggested, trying to sound casual.  
  
Aoife seemed to consider it for a moment before crumpling the heart she was holding in her fist and putting it back to the others. "No, it’s fine,“ she sighed and looked at him decidedly. "We can plan it here.“  
  
Niten merely nodded, feeling relieved even though he disliked the place as well. He reached out for the menu to check which flavors of tea were they offering in an attempt to force his mind to focus on something unrelated to his love life.

Aoife didn't bother to take a look at her menu, which didn't surprise him. He knew she came for coffee, and she only ever drank it one way. She took off her leather jacket and placed it over the backrest, one hand coming to smooth out the silk sleeve of her dark grey shirt. "Why would you choose to live here?“ she asked him suddenly, gesturing vaguely around with her hand. "There seems to be nothing of great interest. I would even call it boring, and that‘s very much unlike your usual tastes.“  
  
Niten had to agree with her, the small town he was currently living in really wasn’t one of the most eventful places. "It’s only for a few months,“ he said quietly, not lifting his eyes from the menu. "I chose it because of local nature, which I wanted to explore, but I soon ran out of places to visit.“ He looked up at her and added: "It wasn’t for nothing though, I‘ve finished five paintings during the time and even got back to writing poems.“  
  
"Oh, that’s good to hear, you know I like your poems,“ she sat upright, sounding genuinely pleased. "I was worried you might have abandoned writing them for good.“  
  
Niten smiled and opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by a honeyed voice: "Do I hear poem?“  
  
Niten and Aoife both turned towards the sound, spotting an elderly woman in a waitress uniform approaching them vigorously. She gave them a toothy grin. "Poems surely make a lovely Valentine’s day gift, don't they?“ she did not wait for them to answer and continued right away. "Did your boyfriend write you one?“  
  
Aoife blinked at her.  
  
Niten felt his cheeks redden. "Umm-no I-“  
  
The woman looked at him knowingly. "Oh, I see, no poems. Perhaps some chocolate then?“ she asked, her tone a tad too cheerful for his liking.  
  
„He’s not my boyfriend,“ Aoife clarified quickly before he had a chance to speak. "We’re old friends.“  
  
"Old?“ the waitress laughed, looking slightly perplexed. "Young people these days,“ she said indulgently, "they think themselves all old and experienced at what?“ she took a moment to inspect them. "Twenty?“  
  
Aoife glared at her. "We would like to order if you don’t mind,“ she said sharply.  
  
"Sure thing.“ The lady narrowed her eyes, obviously not very convinced about them not being a couple. Niten couldn’t blame her, after all, they were two young-looking people sitting at the table covered in hearts on Valentine’s day.  
  
"So what can I get you? Some cocktails or maybe wine?“ she smiled at them again and took a small notepad and a pen out of the pocket of her uniform.  
  
"Coffee. Black, strong, no milk, no sugar,“ Aoife ordered flatly.  
  
The woman scribbled it down, looking a bit taken aback by the order and probably by Aoife as well. Niten supposed Aoife probably didn’t fit the elderly woman‘s mental image of a young girl out on Valentine’s evening. "Alright then and for you, young man?“  
  
"Can I get a cherry tea, please?“ His lips automatically curled into a polite smile, which didn’t reach his eyes as it was more of a reflex.  
  
"Of course. May I offer you something else? Something sweeter when it’s Valentine’s day? We’ve got heart-shaped cookies, Valentine’s themed cakes or cupcakes, or maybe you’d like some pancakes?“ The waitress began tapping with the pen’s tip against the notepad, waiting for them to respond, probably hoping they would be less boring with their next orders.  
  
"No, we’re fine, thank you,“ Niten answered for both of them, knowing Aoife didn’t really eat anyway.  
  
"Alright, I’ll be back in a minute,“ she winked at them and swiftly left.  
  
Niten took a deep breath and tried to will his cheeks to regain their normal colour before he would turn back to properly face Aoife.

"Embarrassed you didn’t write me a poem?“  
  
He tensed and tugged at his shirt collar, avoiding her eyes. The truth was he did write her poems. _Lots_ of poems. They were never meant for her to see, though. He decided to change the subject before she could dig into the matter further. "In Japan, it is actually the women who do the giving on Valentine’s day, not men. Also, people give chocolates, not poems. If you receive chocolate on Valentine’s day, you’re supposed to return the favour month later, on the White day.“  
  
Aoife raised her eyebrows at him and flicked one of the hearts with her fingers absentmindedly. "How come you even know this? It’s quite a new holiday for Japan, isn’t it? You surely didn’t celebrate it.“  
  
"I never did, it is very new.“  
  
"So did you research it or what?“ she asked him, picking another heart between the two of her pale fingers.  
  
"I try to keep up on what’s new in my country at least a bit,“ Niten explained before adding quietly: "Despite not being its citizen anymore.“  
  
Aoife met his eyes and gave him a small smile he would almost call sympathetic. "Whatever helps you, old friend.“ She twisted the tiny heart, suddenly looking lost in her thoughts. It was a common occurrence for her so Niten knew it was best to wait and see if she would eventually choose to share her thoughts with him. It didn’t take long this time.  
  
"Me and Scathach–“ she said and hesitated for a moment like she usually did when she mentioned her sister. "We celebrated Bealtaine on the first day of May in the Celtic calendar. The word means bright fire, and it celebrated the end of winter and the beginning of spring. It is tightly linked to ancient people of Ireland - Tuatha Dé Dannan.“ She paused, lost in memories. "There were lots of bonfires, feasts, and matchmaking... It was about finding love, there was even this superstition – a game played by young girls. You’d take a yellow flower and held it under your chin, and the first man you dreamed of, would be the one you married.“  
  
He was listening to her closely during her speech, curious about what she had to say, as he usually was. The image of Aoife performing such ritual didn’t come easily to his mind though, so he asked her curiously: "Have _you_ ever did that?“  
  
Aoife snorted and smiled. "No, of course not. I don’t believe in fate like that.“  
  
Niten nodded, having expected this answer.  
  
"Ridiculous little things,“ she said all of the sudden, leaving him confused about what she meant for a moment before he noticed she was looking at the heart in her hand. "If this was a thing in my youth, we would have had the guts to use anatomically correct hearts at least.“  
  
He had to smile at that. "I don’t doubt that in the slightest. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if you went for a real one.“  
  
Aoife smirked and considered it. "Maybe, maybe not. It depends.“  
  
"On the situation?“  
  
"And the person for whom I’d be getting one. I mean, the point is to show love, and well, murder is generally not appreciated but-“ she leaned across the table, reducing the distance between them. "Consider this,“ she said with a grin so wide he could see her fangs, „I bring the person their _enemy’s_ heart.“  
  
Niten just stared at her, not having seen this coming. "Ah, well...that... could be considered romantic by some, I guess.“  
  
Aoife nodded, seeming delighted by the idea. "Yes, yes...“ she paused briefly before tilting her head to the side, giving him a careful look. "Would _you_ consider it romantic?“  
  
Niten swallowed and forced his mind to see her question as purely hypothetical. There was no use in reading too much into something that was most likely meant as a simple question. "It depends.“  
  
"On what?“ she prompted him, not breaking eye contact.  
  
She was quite close, now that he thought about it. He could distinguish the different shades of green in her eyes, which had long since proved to be a very distracting activity. "On the person from whom I would receive such gift of course.“ He halted as he realized something else. "Would I be required to return such gift on the White day?“  
  
Aoife chuckled. "If your person would be the type to like that, I’d say so, yes.“  
  
"If my person would be the type to get me the heart of my enemy in the first place, I’m sure she wouldn’t despise it.“  
  
"If you say so,“ she said, green eyes sparkling. She visibly hesitated before adding: "For what it’s worth, Niten, if you were my Valentine’s date, I would get you one.“  
  
Niten felt warmth spreading through his chest, and he reached to gently squeeze Aoife‘s forearm before he could stop himself. For a moment, he wondered if it was wrong to feel flattered about such a thing, but he quickly found he didn’t care. "If you did, I would gladly return the favour,“ he said with a heartfelt smile that mirrored her own.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! All feedback appreciated :)


End file.
